German artist and publisher sue OpenAI for mimicking artworks

In comments to the German newspaper Die Zeit, Schaefer said, “I am considering filing a lawsuit. I would prefer to collaborate with other artists and take legal action together.” He clarified that he is holding discussions with the publishing houses he works with regarding the possibility of receiving their support.

Die Zeit spoke with the artist, who uses traditional drawing techniques, about the ability of OpenAI’s large language model, ChatGPT, to generate images within minutes in response to a request to draw the character Gruffalo, producing results that closely resemble Schaefer’s work. Commenting on this, the illustrator said, “I am shocked. This is clearly my character, but the backgrounds look completely different from those I draw.”

Schaefer’s lawsuit will not be the first of its kind. Penguin Random House, the publisher of the children’s book series “The Little Dragon Kokosnuss,” has already filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the American company of infringing on the intellectual property rights of author and illustrator Ingo Siegner through its AI-powered chatbot.

According to the publisher, ChatGPT can, in response to simple prompts, reproduce recognizable content from Siegner’s copyrighted works. The publisher added that the chatbot also creates illustrations of the character that are so similar to the originals that it is difficult to distinguish between them, and it even proactively suggests preparing a print-ready manuscript, including the cover, back-cover blurbs, and instructions for publishing the book via self-publishing platforms. The German Book Trade Association supports this legal action.

For its part, OpenAI stated that it is reviewing the allegations against it. The company added that it respects the rights of authors and rights holders and is holding discussions with numerous publishing houses worldwide to enable them to leverage the capabilities offered by artificial intelligence technologies.